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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Patagonia Common Threads Initiative

In an economy like ours--one in which fathers lose jobs that support whole families, companies shut down leaving single mothers on welfare, and community-supporting industries are outsourced to other countries so that sweat-shop labor can make up for falling revenues--it's often hard to imagine a way to make a difference as a consumer. To make matters worse, it is increasingly easier to consume (I bought a text book on my phone this year!) and the addiction that our people have developed for it, as an activity, is a tough nut to crack. Patagonia has come up with a bit of a solution though! By joining (or at least tolerating) the Common Threads Initiative, folks are encouraged to reduce stuff waste, reuse old stuff, repair older worn-out stuff, and recycle the oldest, most worn-out stuff. This kind of thinking will, some day, change the way we consume stuff, and, if we let it, permeate other parts of our lives as well, maybe even the way the world around us looks for our children.